LOS ANGELES MAN CHARGED AFTER ATTEMPTING TO MAKE COPY OF THE MEDICAL COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TEST

Los Angeles, CA - A Westwood man has been charged with several federal criminal offenses for copying the Medical College Admissions Test – commonly called the MCAT – without permission from the Association of American Medical Colleges, which holds the copyright to the examination.

Kamran Kafi-Tehrani, 23, was named in a criminal information filed yesterday in United States District Court in Los Angeles. Kafi-Tehrani is scheduled to be arraigned on the three-count information on June 19. Kafi-Tehrani has agreed to plead guilty to all three counts of the information.

The information charges Kafi-Tehrani with three felony charges: misuse of a means of identification to violate federal law, misuse of a passport and criminal copyright infringement. The total statutory maximum sentence for these three offenses is 26 years.

According to the criminal information, on August 2, 2005, Kafi-Tehrani registered to take the MCAT. But, when he registered, he used the name of a former acquaintance, as well as a bogus date of birth. When Kafi-Tehrani tried to take the exam at the University of Southern California on August 21, 2005, he also presented an altered South African passport that had been declared lost by the true owner.

While the test was being administered, a proctor observed Kafi-Tehrani taking photographs of the MCAT using a digital camera. The proctor attempted to confiscate the camera, but Kafi-Tehrani was able to leave the test facility with the digital images in his possession. Because the integrity of the exam had been compromised, the makers of the MCAT were required to redesign the questions. As a result of the security breach, court documents allege, the Association of American Medical Colleges suffered losses of more than $100,000.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.